1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is related to a fan structure having horizontal convection and more particularly to a horizontal channel directly connecting an air inlet to an air outlet, and a cross-flow type blower fan wheel mounted therein being adapted to drive a horizontal airflow to pass therethrough so as to enhance the amount of horizontal airflow in a limited thickness thereof.
2. Description of the Related Art
Most of traditional fan designs have an air inlet at the top, and an air outlet at the side, such that an air gap with appropriate height communicates with the air inlet for sucking ambient air at the top. However, the total thickness of the traditional fan cannot be effectively reduced and it is undesired for an electronic device with a specific thin thickness, notebook computer for example.
Hence, there is a need for reducing the total thickness of fan which is capable of applying in a specific thin electronic device. To this end, Taiwanese Patent Publication No. 471660 (hereinafter referred to as the No. 471660 patent), published on Jan. 1, 2002, discloses a utility model xe2x80x9cthin thickness type fan.xe2x80x9d The thin thickness type fan is characterized in that a casing comprises an air inlet and an air outlet formed on a sidewall, and a high difference existed between the air inlet and the air outlet with relation to a common bottom plane.
FIG. 1 illustrates a perspective view of the fan of the No. 471660 patent. FIG. 2 illustrates a partially sectional view of the fan of the No. 471660 patent. FIG. 3 illustrates a perspective view of the fan of the No. 471660 patent applied to a notebook computer.
Referring to FIG. 1, a casing 10 of a fan 1 comprises an air inlet 11 and an air outlet 12 defined on a sidewall respectively. A high difference exists between the air inlet 11 and the air outlet 12. Consequently, the height of the air inlet 11 is higher than that of the air outlet 12.
Referring to FIG. 2, an axial propeller blade 13 is disposed between the air inlet 11 and the air outlet 12 for blowing airflow. The bottom plane must descend to the air outlet 12 due to the high difference between the air inlet 11 and the air outlet 12. The bottom plate""s thickness of the air outlet 12 is thinner than that of the air inlet 11 and thus the entire structure is sophisticated. Meanwhile, the air outlet 12 is horizontally misaligned with the air inlet 11 that obviously results in an obstruction of airflow therethrough and a reduced efficiency of air speed therebetween. Also, the high difference between the air inlet 11 and the air outlet 12 obviously increases total thickness of the fan 1, and it fails to meet the current trend of thin-thickness design.
Referring again to FIG. 2, an axial airflow driven by the axial propeller 13 is perpendicular to an orientation running between the air inlet 11 and the air outlet 12. In the fan 1, axial direction of the airflow driven by the axial propeller 13 has become indirect to both the air inlet 11 and the air outlet 12 located on the bottom plane that results in reduction of airflow efficiency therein.
Referring to FIG. 3, the fan 1 is assembled to a corner of a notebook computer 2. The air inlet 11 and air outlet 12 of the fan 1 is only abutted against an air inlet 21 and an air outlet 22 of the computer 2 respectively. Consequently, the fan 1 cannot simultaneously remove ambient heat from other electronic components in the computer 2.
The present invention intends to provide a fan having a horizontal channel directly connecting an air inlet to an air outlet with respect to a common plane, and a cross-flow type blower fan wheel mounted therein being adapted to drive a horizontal airflow to pass therethrough in such a way as to mitigate and overcome the above problem.
The primary objective of this invention is to provide a fan structure having horizontal convection which comprises a horizontal channel directly connecting an air inlet to an air outlet to reduce an airflow obstruction due to misalignment therebetween that enhances horizontal airflow to pass therethrough.
The secondary objective of this invention is to provide the fan structure having horizontal convection which utilizes a cross-flow type blower fan wheel in a limited thickness thereof so as to enhance airflow efficiency therein.
Another objective of this invention is to provide a fan structure having horizontal convection in which a cross-flow type blower fan wheel is proximate the air outlet thereof so as to effectively dissipate ambient heat therein.
The present invention is a fan structure having horizontal convection. The fan mainly comprises a casing and a cross-flow type fan wheel. The casing includes an air inlet, an air outlet, and a horizontal channel directly connected therebetween. The cross-flow type fan wheel is mounted in the horizontal channel and selectively aligned or misaligned with a center of the casing.